Sharing the stories of those affected by Autoimmune disease

Type 1 Diabetes Patients Drive to Canada for Affordable Insulin

Lija Greenseid of Minnesota holds up insulin for her 13-year-old daughter that she purchased from Fort Francis, Ontario during an organized caravan ride to Canada.

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys pancreatic cells, rendering them incapable of producing insulin. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into its cells. As a result, patients with Type 1 Diabetes rely on prescription insulin in order to survive.

Unfortunately, for the majority of Americans, the cost of life-saving insulin keeps going up year after year. As a result, Quinn Nystrom, from Minnesota, organized a caravan to Canada to fill her prescription for insulin, where it sells for a fraction of the cost.

As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), insulin costs significantly less in Canada, thanks to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, which sets limits for the maximum price that can be charged for patented drugs. As a result, a vial of insulin that costs $300 in the US is only $30 in Canada, even when it comes from the same brand.

Many patients who cannot afford their medication will ration their insulin. Unfortunately, as a result of not taking the required minimum dose, patients who ‘ration’ their insulin can die.

That’s what happened to Alec Smith-Holt, a 26-year-old man from Minnesota who died in 2017 when he couldn’t afford $1,300 in insulin, and decided to ration his remaining supply. His body was discovered five days later. His mother, Nicole Smith-Holt, joined the caravan to Canada as a symbolic gesture in memory of her son.

Executive Gets Purple Mohawk to Benefit Kid with Autoimmune Disease

Cayden Krueger, a young patient with ITP, poses with John Stevenson, who is supporting his Pump it Up for Platelets campaign.

Cayden Krueger, from Madison, Wisconsin, was diagnosed with thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) when he was just 6 years old. ITP is an autoimmune disease that causes patients to have too few platelets in their blood, resulting in easy bruising and bleeding. Cayden has been raising awareness about ITP by launching a Pump it Up for Platelets fundraiser and sporting a purple mohawk.

When John Stevenson, a Senior Director of Financial Services at US Cellular, heard about Cayden’s story, he challenged his employees to raise money for the Pump it Up for Platelets fundraiser, and pledged to get a purple mohawk himself if they could meet a $1,000 goal. His team ended up raising $2,000, so Stevenson found himself with a new hairdo, and Cayden even got to make the first cut.